WNDS

Pair him up with someone like Fred (Shakhtar, realistically obtainable), and we'd possibly have one of the best midfields in club football (only just behind the usual suspects).
Our inability to acquire a suitable partner for Kante has been our major downfall this season. Even with our current issues surrounding the striker position (and Conte's sometimes questionable attitude), I feel that we could have done something great this season if we just had this missing piece.

Pair him up with someone like Fred (Shakhtar, realistically obtainable), and we'd possibly have one of the best midfields in club football (only just behind the usual suspects).
Our inability to acquire a suitable partner for Kante has been our major downfall this season. Even with our current issues surrounding the striker position (and Conte's sometimes questionable attitude), I feel that we could have done something great this season if we just had this missing piece.

I think his time as an important player for us is coming to a close. The compromises that have to be made to accommodate him are simply no longer worth the hastle: if Kante isn't available, we find ourselves setting-up like we did against Man City, and even if Kante IS available, the team has to scrabble desperately to cover for him.
If he was creating chance after chance for us, then things would be different, but its become this vicious circle in which Fabregas' opportunities to direct attacking play are limited due to the cautious set-ups that we tend to employ to compensate for his presence in the middle of the pitch, meaning that we effectively remove the reason for him to be included in the team..... all so that we can include him in the team; it makes no sense at this point.
I'd be more than happy for him to remain here as a squad player, however (returning to a role similar to that which he occupied last season); I'm just not so sure that he'll be of the same mindset.

Hazard DOES perform in the 'big' games when we play in domestic competitions; it's only really in Europe that he seems to struggle for us.
He was our best player in the CL during the 2014/15 season (including against PSG), and he played very well against Atletico earlier this season as well. Other than that though, Willian has generally outperformed him in Europe (during our run to the semis in 2013/14 (including games against PSG and Atletico); over the entirety of the awful 2015/16 season (most notably in the crunch game against Dynamo Kiev and against PSG), and of course over the two legs against Barcelona this season)).
If we could just work out a system that gets both players firing simultaneously more often than not, we'd have the potential (with one or two additional tweaks) to deploy one of the most devastating attacks in club football, but alas.....

I think his time as an important player for us is coming to a close. The compromises that have to be made to accommodate him are simply no longer worth the hastle: if Kante isn't available, we find ourselves setting-up like we did against Man City, and even if Kante IS available, the team has to scrabble desperately to cover for him.
If he was creating chance after chance for us, then things would be different, but its become this vicious circle in which Fabregas' opportunities to direct attacking play are limited due to the cautious set-ups that we tend to employ to compensate for his presence in the middle of the pitch, meaning that we effectively remove the reason for him to be included in the team..... all so that we can include him in the team; it makes no sense at this point.
I'd be more than happy for him to remain here as a squad player, however (returning to a role similar to that which he occupied last season); I'm just not so sure that he'll be of the same mindset.

I love him so much. Top top player. 

Nah man. Oscar became an average player in comparison to the potential we thought he had when he first stepped foot at the Bridge. He is miles better than Baka on the ball ,absolutely miles better. Even off the ball, I believe Oscar's pressing was far more useful than any sort of 'physicality' brought in by Baka. Oscar wasn't good enough for Chelsea yet he was still a good footballer, Baka is just shocking. 

I still stick to the opinion that he can come good here, but Conte needs to give him a break. He is completely shot off confident and it has got to a point that he is shying away from the ball and he seems also frightened to receive it. He needs to build up confidence. It is good that we have Barkley coming in. Bakayoko just needs to have a little break and work on his technical game. He panics under pressure and he knows the crowd are on to him when he receives the ball. It was actually glaring to see the amount of times, Bakoyoko did not offer himself for a pass in difficult situations because he is scared about making a mistake. Hope he can come good but defo needs a break from the team.
 

Or don't bother stopping Moses and let him slam the ball aimlessly in to the box or out of play.  Alonso wants to cut inside because he's not going to beat you for pace.
Basically, they stop themselves, I guess is what I'm saying. 
Kante and Bakayoko won't pass the ball forwards, and that leaves Cesc trying to take the top off the defence.  Now that everyone is closing down Azpi, there goes our "goal move".  That leaves Morata on the ground trying to get a cheap free kick or Hazard looking at 5 players all facing him up.

The 3-5-2 is rather predictable, which is made even worse by having average WBs, as you mentioned there. Stop Alonso and Moses, which is hardly hard, and there goes our width and all our play will go through the middle, which again makes easy for the opposition to contain us.

I don’t think Costa would. I remember too many times where he received the ball and ended up just dribbling into the defense and giving it away. His physical presence would be more useful though.

I think we will get the best out of him if we stop playing this 3-5-2. The formation is so easy for the defence to restrict Morata. I prefer the 3-4-3, you have the wingers providing balls in and the defence have more attacking players to try to cope with. When you play with a 3-5-2, we don't have the threat of wingers and the creativity relies on Hazard and Fabregas doing everything. It does not help that Alonso is not an explosive LWB to provide the crosses Morata needs and Moses cannot cross for the head level for his life.
Morata has been poor though, make no mistake about it, however think Conte needs to change the formation, especially in these home games to get the best out of his striker. The 3-5-2 formation is just so laboured and a more defensive strategy imo.

Yeah he has been horrific recently but the formation of the team don't do him any favours either. I thought we would moving towards more possession based football this season but the reality has been quite the opposite. I think that's what he thought as well when he signed the contract. Costa would be FAR better in this current style of football we play.

It's not about paranoia or how many trophies has the player led the other club to. The bigger point here is I've never been a fan of selling a player to a direct rival, however useful or useless the player is. Take Matic's case as an example. I mean sure, he's an average player and should never be a first choice starter for us. But he's a decent squad player to have and he can come in to a decent job if needed. Now, we're gonna lose that bit of squad depth and strengthen our rivals' squad depth. The 40m bid for someone like Matic is certainly hard to turn down and if we reinvest that to get someone better, then fine. But then again, this is Chelsea we're talking about here. In any case, that part of "helping" out a rival just doesn't sit well with me.

Complacency appears to have been his biggest issue over the last few months. When he first came into the starting 11 at RWB and was fighting to retain his place, he was so direct and menacing when attacking; now he's often very languid. I don't know if he needs replacing outright when it comes to our starting line-up, but we certainly need to find someone who is able to provide him with some serious competition. At the moment he risks heading the way Ivanovic eventually did under Mourinho once he realised that he was undroppable.

Played out of his skin at times this season and he deserved the praise he got. But there are times when you can tell he's not wired as a defender. The positions he takes up, the speed (or lack thereof) with which he reads situations, and his decisions in the final third are all poor.
Hes a very good option to have in a big squad that'll be in so many competitions next season but he isn't good enough to start every game. We need an upgrade.

Costa must be REALLY (REALLY) popular and influential in the dressing-room, because I really can't see any other reason for why he hasn't been dropped at this point. I mean, I could understand Conte's handling of this issue if Costa had shown him loyalty and an exemplary overall attitude during their time together, but he hasn't; all indications are that he DID actually make some sort of a push for a move in January, and that this came after he had ALREADY done something similar in the summer.
They guy clearly isn't committed to this club, and he's an absolutely awful (close to genuinely useless) player when off-form, so drop him and sell him. Play a front 3 of Hazard-Pedro-Willian for the remainder of the season to try to get us over the line, and then get a long-term replacement at CF. If it's possible (and it may well not be), I'd get Alexis Sanchez, and have us roll with a front 3 of Hazard-Sanchez-Pedro/Willian next season.
It's really saddening that it's come (back) to this, as I had (like just about everyone) been very impressed with him over the first half of the season. I had hoped that he might finally have settled into life at Chelsea, but it seems not.  

That's more than fair fair enough, and it makes perfect sense to me. If we're in the CL next season and are making a serious effort to be genuinely competitive, certain improvements will probably have to be made to the starting 11; Matic, Cahill, and possibly one of either Moses or Alonso are the players who appear most vulnerable at the moment.
That being said, we can only reach a certain level of overall squad depth and quality before we risk harming squad unity. I think that Willian, Cahill, and Moses/Alonso would all be fine with 'expanded squad roles' next season (the season after that, I'm not so sure), but Fabregas and Matic are the two that I can see leaving under these circumstances. Pedro could also be a worry if we strengthen the forward line, as he didn't leave the club he loves (Barcelona) to find himself with the same squad role that he already had (despite the form he's been in this season, he's almost certain to be the man to lose-out if someone new and 'shiny' arrives and Hazard+Costa are retained).

Honest mistake, English is not my first language and it was the first expression that came to mind, I didn't give much thought to the wording. I'd be happy to keep both as squad players, but with our ambitions they shouldn't be automatic starters imo (Willian already isn't I know). It's clear to see what both bring to the team or we wouldn't be leaders, but there are some critical aspects in which both are lacking that limits our ceiling at a certain height, but we need to go higher if that makes sense. Hazard imho is not an issue here.

Both of those players have brought plently to the team so far this season.
I mean, Willian's got 7 goals and 3 assists as a squad player who has played only just over half the minutes that Hazard (10 goals 5 assists) has this season; this is the sort of return you want from a squad player, isn't it?
By my calculations, the attacking contributions of Willian (and Fabregas) have been vital in ensuring that we have our current 8-point lead. Willian has scored the winning goals against Hull, Man City, and Stoke (6 points right there), whilst also making impotant contributions against Burnley (scored the second goal to kill the game), Sunderland (assisted Fabregas' winner), and Leicester (had a big hand in two of the three goals). Fabregas has provided crucial assists against Watford (for the winner), Man City (for the equaliser), Bournemouth (for the winner), and Stoke (two assists that were the difference between a draw and a win), whilst also scoring the aforementioned winner against Sunderland. Basically, the two of them have been excellent squad players so far this season, and are EXACTLY the calibre of player that we should be aiming to have as 'first-choice' rotational options. Sure, both of them have been inconsistent (particularly Willian), but that's what happens to any player who isn't allowed the opportunity to establish a rhythm within the first 11.
And as for Matic.... Yeah, the guy has clear limitations to his game, and yeah, he should probably not start quite as many games as he does, BUT he was excellent for around four of the first five months of this season, and was absolutely crucial to the initial implementation of the 3-4-3. He has (and will continue to have) a very important role within the current set-up, limitations and all.
Seriously, what type of squad depth do you (and others) think we can realistically achieve? Even clubs like Barca, Real, and Bayern struggle to keep their higher-quality squad players happy and contributing, and EVEN these clubs do NOT possess world-class talent throughout their benches.
And speaking of world-class talent, Hazard (who I belive IS a world-class player, despite what other posters have been saying) CANNOT simply coast on his inherent quality and put in displays like he did against Wolves; his attitude and application absolutely stank the place out. It's notable that over the last month or two it is Pedro (a very good player indeed, but not on Hazard's level in terms of raw ability) who is looking increasingly like the key man in our 3-man forward line, being the one who seems to contribute the most in terms of both direct attacking contributions AND positional/defensive work at the moment.

I agree with most of this, as Willian's decision-making in the final-third has always been one of his key weaknesses. I don't quite agree with your assessment of the contribution he made to our goal today, however, as I actually thought it was an uncharacteristically sharp bit of play: Fabregas had the better angle and more of the goal to aim at (because Djilobodji was closing Willian down in anticipation of an extra touch or a shot).
And despite it otherwise being 'one of those games' as far as some of Willian's decision-making is concerned, he's generally been outperforming the previously excellent Pedro over the last few matches (Man City and Sunderland specifically). Not sure I'd bring him into the starting line-up just yet, mind, as I think Pedro fits the system slightly better, but he's beginning to ask the question whilst Pedro's beginning to flag.

His mentality is shifting. Instead of moving towards the ball, taking that bit of time to weigh his options, dribbling to create space for others and looking for the open man when attacking the goal he is now moving aggressively towards goal, takes shots, dribbles to create space for himself and is less interested in creating for his team mates. From creator to finisher. As his confidence grows, we might see him averaging 4, 5 shots a game.
It doesn't necessarily make him a better player but it will certainly make him more popular.
That second goal was ridiculously good.

Would rather go for Griezmann than James. The former is a hard worker and guarantees goals, lots of them. If we are to continue with this 3-4-3 for the long term, then think Griezmann suits it better than James and he complements Hazard and Costa better than James. We need variations and players of different qualities in our front 3. Playing similar players there will not help.

For me, the only answer is Griezmann.  (Maybe Di Maria).  I'm not sure about James.  For James kind of money, Id rather see the club push the boat all the way out and go hard for Griezmann.

Why not use Pedro as one of the second-striker options? Pedro is more of a wide-forward anyway, and it doesn't look like he's going to be able to provide Conte with what he wants from his wingers (genuine width and some physical robustness). Pedro's main attributes are his attacking movement and finishing ability. Costa paired with one of Pedro/Batshuayi could work, particularly with Traore being an additional option as a sub.